


Trapped

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 03:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10235237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: During a station emergency, Garak and Molly are trapped together, and Julian is desperate to find them in time.





	

 “I have a proposition for the O’Briens when they return from Bajor,” Garak said to Julian as he stepped from the refresher unit, drying his hair.

 “Oh, what’s that?” Julian replied, pulling on his uniform.

 “That I am occasionally allowed to borrow Molly for the day.”

 Julian chuckled. “Oh, she’s got you.”

 “Having her in my shop for the past few days has been good for business. It’s as though people see her in there and can’t resist coming in.”

 Julian’s grin turned teasing. “So only for business then? No real attachment?”

 “Oh, I wouldn’t go so far to say there’s no attachment…” Garak finished dressing and looked in the mirror to brush his hair back into its usual style. “Besides, it’s rather pleasant having a little companion while I work. And she’s receptive to what I’ve been teaching her.”

 “Not anything untoward, I hope.”

 “Doctor!” Garak spun around, and Julian couldn’t help the amused smile at the state of the Cardassian’s half-brushed hair and indignant expression on his face. “Only tailoring, I assure you.”

 “Good. Miles would have an absolute fit if Molly started talking in code or something.”

 Garak’s eyes lit up as he turned back to the mirror. “Now there’s an idea…”

 Julian shook his head affectionately and swatted Garak’s shoulder. “No. He’d never let you even look at her again, much less let us watch her again.”

 “You have a point… though the expression on the Chief’s face would be amusing…”

 “I’m sorry I even put the idea in your head.” Julian finished a quick brush-through of his own hair and kissed the Cardassian on the cheek.

 Garak turned for quick a kiss on the mouth before they left the bedroom.

 “Ready for breakfast?” Julian asked their charge for the week. “We’re going to meet with Odo.”

 Molly, already dressed and with a small bag slung over her shoulder, beamed a smile and nodded. “I want eggs and bacon.”

 Julian picked the young girl up onto his hip. “Eggs and bacon? I think it’ll be pancakes for me.”

 “Can you share?” Molly asked. “I want a little, too.”

 Julian walked out of the door to the quarters, with Garak following behind. “Of course.”

 ********

 “That shipment of medical equipment will be coming in at 1400, cargo bay three,” Odo informed during a lull in the mid-breakfast conversation at the replimat.

 Julian sighed. “1400? I’ll be very busy today doing crew physicals. I’ll have to figure out if I can spare someone…” He cut another piece of pancake from his plate off and placed it on Molly’s, who was sitting on Odo’s lap.

 “I could arrange for a member of security if it’s an inconvenient time for you?” Odo offered. He picked up the piece of egg that fell onto his leg from Molly’s fork and placed it on the table.

 “Do you only need someone to check the manifest over and see that it’s all there?” Garak asked before taking a sip of his tea.

 “Pretty much,” Julian confirmed.

 “Are you offering?” Odo asked.

 Garak smiled to the child in the Changeling’s lap. “What do you think, Molly? Can we help Doctor Bashir while he’s busy?”

 Molly nodded. “That’s fine.”

 “It won’t be anything too exciting, I’m afraid. But we can spare a break from my shop.”

 “Thanks,” Julian patted Garak’s knee.

 “Anything I can do to help.”

 “In that case,” Odo pushed his padd to Garak. “Thumbprint there and show it to the shuttle pilot.”

 The conversation turned to Molly starting speculation about what her recently-announced baby brother would be like, until they finished breakfast and headed their separate ways.

 ********

 At 1350, Garak rose from his worktable. “It’s time to go check the shipment for Doctor Bashir,” he reminded the girl next to him, working on a bit of easy embroidery that he had taught her.

Molly took a moment to finish the line of thread, then held it up to the Cardassian. “Is it good?”

 “Very much so. You’re a very good learner,” Garak smiled. “Perhaps when we get back, we can continue on our little project,” he added, referring to the dress she was helping him make for her.

 Molly scooted off her chair. “Please? I want to finish it before Mommy and Daddy come home.”

 Garak took her hand as they walked out the door and he closed his shop. “Oh, I’m sure we can manage that.”

 After showing the cargo shuttle pilot the padd, and the pilot telling him that if there were any problems, he and his crew would be at Quark’s, Garak set Molly up to sit on one of the unloaded cases in the cargo bay and got to work.

 With just the two of them in the cargo bay, Garak and Molly kept up a conversation about whatever the girl wanted to talk about while Garak opened cases to see if the contents matched the list of items on the padd.

 After about ten minutes, Garak got the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. It only took opening the next case to know that feeling was not unwarranted. Inside was something that looked very much like an explosive device. It would take a trained eye to recognize the disconnected components design, but Garak was certain of it.

 His eyes widened for a second before he quickly backed away, not going to take any chances on how quickly it was supposed to go off. He turned the corner to pick up Molly. “Are you all done?” she asked.

 “No, but we’re leaving now.” Garak clutched the girl tightly against him as he started to hurry towards the door.

 Unfortunately, the Cardassian only made it about five steps before a series of explosions went off around them.

 ********

 Julian stretched his arms over his head as he left the crewman sitting on the bed. They were about two-thirds of the way through the scheduled physicals. “Jabara,” he called to his head nurse. “Anyone have anything life-threatening yet?” he asked her jokingly.

 “No, Doctor.” The Bajoran returned his light smile. “Though we’ve still got several opportunities left for that.”

 “Sisko to Doctor Bashir,” came the call through Julian’s commbadge.

 “Bashir here.”

 “Doctor, we’ve just had several explosions from the storage and cargo bays.”

 “Which one?” Julian asked, checking the time and realizing Garak and Molly were still probably in cargo bay three. He barely noticed that his nurses and aides were all looking to him.

 “All of them. This seems to be a purposeful attack.”

 Julian’s face went pale. “Can you beam anyone from there into the infirmary?”

 Dax’s voice spoke, “We are picking up life-signs from a few of the bays, but transporters are offline… seems like a virus is affecting them.”

 “Check cargo bay three?” Julian asked, grabbing his emergency medkit.

 There was a moment of quiet before Dax replied. “Yes… two life-signs.”

 “Garak and Molly,” Julian breathed.

 Sisko ordered, “Get your people over there and start coordinating with Odo.”

 “Yes, sir.” With that, Julian turned to his team. “Jabara, lead a team to the storage bays. Styles, Mehaf, Tokna, you’re with me. Let’s go.”

 Julian practically sprinted all the way to the cargo bays, nearly running into Odo, followed by some security officers. The constable said, “I sent more people to the storage bays.”

 “So did I,” Julian responded.

 “Molly and Garak-“

 “Yes, they’re in there.”

 Suddenly the corridor lights went out. “Now what?” Odo near-shouted.

 ********

 “…ak? Garak? Wake up, p-please?”

 The sound of a frightened child’s voice, and soft breath on his neck slowly brought Garak back to consciousness. He groaned, more to let Molly know he was awakening than anything else. His eyelids felt too heavy to open, and his body began to send pain signals to his brain. At first, it felt like everything hurt, as it all flooded in. After a short moment, Garak was able to start isolating specific areas.  

 Something large and heavy laid across his legs and pressed down on his side. It wouldn’t surprise him if there was damage there. There was something warm and slightly sticky between his face and the floor. He realized it was blood at the taste in his mouth as it leaked past his lips, too much to not be concerned. Internal damage, he guessed.

 Garak slightly moved his left shoulder, and immediately bit down on his lip to stop himself from screaming. His right hand tightened in the fabric of Molly’s shirt as he swallowed. He nearly spit it back up all the blood. He tried a deep breath, and quickly regretted it, as it resulted in a sharp stabbing pain in his chest.

 “Garak?” came Molly’s voice again.

 “I’m awake.” Garak’s voice strained with pain. He finally opened his eyes. The cargo bay was dark, but he could see the shapes of cases and twisted metal around them. He was lying on his side, holding Molly close against his chest. His right side, on the floor, felt half-numb, and Garak stretched the fingers in his hand to work full feeling back into them. “Are you alright?”

 “My leg hurts.”

 Garak slowly lifted his head to look down their bodies. Every little movement caused agony in his left shoulder, and Garak quickly figured out why. Something large and long and sharp had impaled through the shoulder and upper back. His jaw grazed against the point dripping with blood. He clenched his teeth against the agony, and took stock of the rest of their situation.

 Garak had managed to shield Molly from most the explosions damage with his own body. His left leg was draped over her lower body, though on top of that was a heavy piece of ceiling support, pressing down on both of their lower bodies. He tried to move his leg, and while he did manage to slightly, the creaking sound above them discouraged him in case moving that support brought more debris crashing down on them.

 A heavy shelf unit had fallen on his side, the source of the pain in his ribs and probable cause of broken ribs causing internal injuries. He swallowed the welling blood in his mouth again, now very much concerned about how fast it was filling his mouth.

 “How much does your leg hurt?”

 “Not too much, I think.”

 “Good, because I don’t think I can move mine off you.” Garak let his head fall back to the floor. “Anything else hurt?”

 “I don’t think so.”

 “Could you back away slightly so I see you better?” Garak left his mouth slightly open to let the blood flow freely. There was no point in making himself nauseous by continually swallowing it.

 Molly managed to scoot her upper body back enough for Garak to see her face. There was blood on her cheek and hair, but the scent of it indicated it was his, and not from her.

 “You don’t look good,” the girl stated.

 Garak couldn’t help the humorless chuckle at her honesty. “I don’t particularly feel good,” he admitted. His eyes closed as he fought to keep the agonies in his body at bay.

 “I’m scared,” Molly breathed.

 Garak’s hand on her back tightened in response. “Someone will find us.” He listened to her breathing. It was steady, though with a hint of strain from the pain of her leg. “Julian and Odo knew we were here. They’ll find us…”

 ********

 The door to cargo bay three wouldn’t open automatically, the command codes to do so didn’t work, and the manual override didn’t work either, seemingly because something on the other side was blocking it.

 Odo opened the maintenance tube hatch and crawled inside. His feet had barely made it inside before a yelp came from the Changeling.

 “Odo?” Julian asked, crouching down to look into the tube, though the darkness of the corridor didn’t actually allow him to see much.

 Odo slowly backed out with a sigh. “We’re not getting in that way. Force-field.”

 It only took a minute for the reports from the other security-medic teams to report the same thing in the rooms they were trying to get into that had people trapped inside.

 “There must be a way to get in there…” Julian blew out a frustrated breath. He tapped his commbadge. “Bashir to Ops, are you picking up force-fields in the maintenance tubes around the cargo bays?”

 Dax’s voice answered after a few seconds. “Yes. I’ll try disabling them from here, but we have lost access to some systems. I’ll keep you posted. Dax out.”

 “Whoever did this really knew what they were doing,” Odo stated.

 “Right now, speculation on who did all this is the last thing on my mind.”

 Odo considered the door again. “Manually forcing it seems to be the best option right now.”

 “We’ll have to be careful. The last thing we want is to bring the whole bay down inside.”

 “Of course.”

 Julian rubbed his hands together, readying himself for the physical labour. “Hold on, you two…”

 ********

 Garak opened his eyes and started to lift his head to look around them, but the agony in his shoulder flared, and it was all he could do to contain it in a sharp hiss. He laid his head back down to the bloody floor. “Molly, can you look around for me? Do you see anything that looks like fire?” He hadn’t smelled any smoke, but one couldn’t be too careful.

 Molly lifted her head and pushed herself up slightly. After a moment, she answered, “No.”

 “Any lights or sparks at all?”

 Molly shook her head. “All dark.”

 “One less thing for us to worry about,” Garak said softly. He shivered. “Though a little more heat would be nice.” He looked down when Molly’s small body shuddered against his. “Are you feeling cold?”

 “A little,” the girl sniffled.

 Garak drew her in close. “I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll do my best.” He let out a long breath as Molly snuggled against his chest, hopefully avoiding the spreading bloodstain in his tunic. His left arm was useless, but he wrapped his right one as tightly around her as he could manage. His fingers softly grazed through her hair, sticky with his blood. He blinked slowly a few times. “Please hurry, Doctor.”

 A moment later, Molly’s voice quietly asked, “Tell me a story?”

 “A story?” Garak coughed, blood spattering a few inches from his mouth.

 “Mommy and Daddy tell me stories sometimes, when I’m scared.” The girl’s last word gave way to a sob.

 “A story, then…” Garak let out a sigh as he thought of one. It took a minute to remember one Mila had told him when he was about Molly’s age. “Have you heard one about the boy and his riding-hound?”

 Molly’s head shook against the Cardassian’s chest.

 Garak swallowed thickly. “It starts on a winter day…”

 ********

 Two more crewmen had joined them, one engineer and one security. With their help, they had finally gotten the manual door controls operational, or so they hoped.

 “Ready?” asked the engineer.

 “Go ahead,” Odo nodded as he, Julian, and the other crewman readied themselves at the door.

 The engineer flicked a switch in the panel, and the hiss of the door release sounded loud in the still-dark and quiet corridor. Odo’s fingers caught the open edge first and pulled it away from the wall. Julian and the other man quickly joined him, hearing the scrape as something against the other side of the door moved.

 “Stop,” Odo ordered when the gap was wide enough for him in his humanoid form to fit through, which was as far as he was willing to risk. He stepped halfway in to get a look around, picking up his dropped flashlight from the floor to do so. “Dark,” he reported.

 “Any sign of Garak and Molly?” Julian asked, trying to see over the Changeling’s head.

 “Not that I can see.” He backed out to the corridor to allow the doctor to take a look himself. “The problem will be clearing a path in there without bringing it all down on our, and their, heads.”

 Julian did a sweep with his flashlight of the twisted metal and crates and other debris. “Damn it. We’ll have to figure out where in the room they are before we can make any real moves.”

 “That would be ideal,” Odo agreed. “How accurate can your tricorder pinpoint them?”

 Julian flipped his equipment open. “We’ll see.”

 ********

 Molly’s head snapped up at the sound of something loudly scraping on the other side of the cargo bay. Garak had barely heard it, with his lesser hearing capabilities and straining consciousness. He weakly patted her back in assurance, and when she relaxed back down, he finished the story with a few more sentences.

 Molly waited until the Cardassian had finished speaking to ask, “Do you think that’s them finding us?”

 “I would think so, yes…” Garak fully relaxed his head to the floor, letting his mouth hang slightly open to allow more blood to trickle out. He wasn’t certain how much more talking he could do to keep the girl calm. Talking required breathing, and breathing was something that was hurting more and more.

 “Garak, don’t go to sleep, please?”

 Sleep. Now there was an enticing idea. Fighting off unconsciousness was becoming more difficult with each passing minute. Why not just fall into it? What with all the pain wracking his body…

 Garak jolted back to awareness as a cool, though still slightly warmer than his own, hand came up to his cheek.

 “Please?” Molly asked, having had moved her head back so he could see her face.

 No, he had to stay awake, for both their sakes. He couldn’t abandon Molly to being buried alone in this dark and cold room of twisted metal and debris. She was already frightened enough, and losing his presence would only make that worse. As for himself, he wasn’t a doctor, but he knew his injuries were life-threatening, and slipping into unconsciousness was dangerous if he wanted to wake up again.

 “Sorry, my dear…” Garak breathed. “I’m… here.”

 “Garak? Molly?” came a loud voice from where the scraping sound had come from. Julian’s voice had rarely sounded so sweet.

 Garak barely had the strength to talk quietly, never mind being able to shout back. But Molly responded with a shouted, “Here! Over here!”

 “We can barely hear you, but we will get you out of there,” Julian shouted back. “Are you hurt?”

 “Garak is hurt bad!”

 Odo’s voice replied, “Just sit tight while we clear a path.”

 Molly tried to move her legs out from under Garak’s, but Garak was still aware enough to know moving around was still not a good idea. “Sit tight,” the Cardassian reminded.

 “Sorry,” the girl sniffled.

 “They’re coming… be patient.” Garak’s voice was down to a whisper now, all he had strength for. He slowly blinked, thinking of a way to keep Molly calm enough until they were rescued, a way that didn’t require much exertion from him. “Molly?”

 “Yes?”

 “Tell me a story.” 

 “Tell you a story?”

 “Yes… any story you like… keep me awake… help us both not be afraid…”

 Molly took a moment to think of a story, one that her mother liked to tell. She kept her hand on the Cardassian’s face, and began, “There was a strong warrior princess…”

 It was all Garak could do to focus on the words.

 ********

 With the help of the tricorder and Molly’s muffled and distant shout, Julian and Odo were able to know the general area where they were.

 “Now to figure out how to clear a path,” the engineer with them said.

 With all four of them shining their flashlights across the dark and smoky cargo bay, they found a good place to start. Julian stepped over a large smashed open crate, and ducked through a twisted shelf unit to the first piece they had to move. He was concerned that Molly had gone quiet, but knew it was better that she save her energy and stay calm. He was very concerned that Garak hadn’t responded to them, and had to clamp down on imagining what kinds of injuries his partner had. They couldn’t even see Garak and Molly, meaning they were underneath it all.  All that mattered right now was getting to them, and speculation would take away his focus.

 Julian cleared his throat from the thinning smoke, as he helped the security officer push up a beam. Odo and the engineer slipped under and found something else to rest the end of the beam on. Once Julian let it go, he readjusted the medkit strap across his torso. He knew it was only going to get more difficult from here on out.

 ********

 Something above them rumbled and scraped. Molly let out a squeak and buried her face in Garak’s chest. Garak came to the same conclusion that whatever was above them might be giving way, and tried to prepare for it. His hand on the girl’s back tightened slightly. At the instinctive movement to roll his left side over to cover her better, Garak’s vision flashed white with fresh agony as the twisted metal through his shoulder reminded him it was there. He didn’t have enough energy or breath to scream, and a long low pitiful whine came out instead.

 The only movement Garak could settle for was bringing his right arm a little higher over Molly, and dipping his head until his chin touched the top of her head.

 “Molly?” The shouted question sounded closer than before.

 Somehow, the debris held up over them did not fall, though Molly did whimper when something small fell and bounced off her back before clattering to the side. Garak sensed that the space had become smaller, and took as deep a breath as he could manage to ward that particular fear off.

 “Say something, please!” shouted another voice.

 “We’re still okay!” Molly replied, daring to move her head back to try to get a better look at Garak.

 “Alright, just try to stay calm. We shouldn’t be much longer.” The voices quieted to an undiscernible discussion.

 The slightly warmer hand rested on Garak’s bloodied face again, and the soft voice said his name again, desperation tinging it.

 “Keep… telling story…” Garak breathed. It wouldn’t do to have her panic now, not with rescue so close.

 Molly swallowed, and after a moment to remember where she left off, continued.

 ********

 “Finally,” Julian said as they lifted a beam and saw a foot peeking out from under the edge of an enclosure of twisted metal and debris. They had gotten the lights back a couple minutes before. The enclosure looked bigger than Garak’s height, which gave him hope that they hadn’t been crushed by anything. He heard Molly’s voice, speaking quietly. After a few words, he concluded that it was a story.

 “I’ll have to get in there and stabilize it before you can start moving things,” Odo said. At Julian’s nod, Odo knelt down and called through the small opening, “Molly, we’re here. I’m coming in to protect you.”

 Molly’s story stopped and she responded, “Okay.” Her voice dropped, but Julian could still here her say, “See, Garak, they found us.”

 Then Odo moved through the opening, changing form as he went, until he was inside and formed a protective dome. Julian nodded to the engineer and security officer, and the three of them got to work moving away the debris as quickly as they could.

 Once the shimmery orange dome of the Changeling was uncovered, Odo quickly formed into his humanoid body and knelt down beside Garak and Molly, behind her, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 Julian had to clench his teeth to keep his calm demeanor at the sight of Garak. He crouched down and took out his tricorder, also taking visual stock of the situation. Internal injuries and broken ribs, most likely caused by the heavy shelf that had just been lifted off his side in addition to the initial explosion, a long piece of metal impaling through his shoulder, concussion. What hurt Julian the most to see was the pool of blood under and surrounding his partner’s head as the dark crimson trickled from his parted lips.

 Molly had become quiet as she lifted her head and opened her eyes. At Julian’s nod, the security officer lifted the heavy debris off Garak’s leg, which allowed for Odo to pull Molly free. She whimpered at the movement. The amount of blood on her face and arms was distressing, but he couldn’t see any wounds on her that would’ve caused it. Julian waved his tricorder over her lower half. “Only a fractured fibula and probable bruising.”

 Odo gently lifted her and handed her to the engineer. “Infirmary,” he ordered.

 “Garak!” Molly protested as she was handed off and taken away.

 “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him,” Julian assured, staring down at the Cardassian to figure the best way to deal with the impaled shoulder.

 “…tiful voice…” came the strained breath.

 Julian couldn’t help the strained smiled of relief at hearing Garak. “Don’t talk,” he instructed. “Save your strength.” The Cardassian’s eyes fluttered open for a second, then closed again, though he was still conscious.

 “This would be easier if you were unconscious. I can’t risk sedating you,” Julian sighed, making a decision on the shoulder. To Odo and the security officer, he said, “We can’t move him with it, and none of us have anything to cut most of it off with. We’ll have to pull it out right here. Odo, you’ll have to cover both sides of the wound.”

 At the affirming grunts, Julian position himself at Garak’s head and took a few seconds to pet the black hair, which had come loose from its usual style and now half-covered the Cardassian’s face. “This is going to hurt,” he warned, and leaned over to take Garak’s hand, the one that had been around Molly, in case he needed something physical to get through the pain.

 “On three,” Julian instructed. He took a breath, and counted. He closed his eyes at the sound of the twisted metal being pulled from his partner’s flesh, and the long half-strangled cry from Garak’s throat. It also spared him the sight of the open gory wound. Garak’s hand only lightly squeezed Julian’s, a bad sign.

 Odo’s hand flattened and widened to cover both sides of the wound, sealing it from more blood flowing out.

 The security man tossed the long and heavy rod away and went to Garak’s legs.

 Julian and Odo gingerly turned Garak over onto his back. The doctor warned, “We’re going to lift you now.” There was no response, and Julian heavily swallowed, fearing the worst for a second. But Garak was still breathing, very shallow and strained. He had passed out, most likely the pain of taking the long metal piece out being too much for him in this state.

 Julian kept Garak’s head tilted down to prevent him from choking on his own blood. He resisted the urge to kiss the top of the blood-matted head, and looked up to Odo and the other officer. “Ready?”

 ********

 Gentle fingers sifting through his hair, a soft voice near his ear, cool breath on his cheek. As far as waking up went, this was a pleasant experience.

 Then the rest of his body followed, and an aching sort of pain awakened with it. A weak groan escaped his mouth.

 The voice above quietly shushed him in a soothing manner. His newly tensed muscles slowly relaxed, and his eyes slowly opened. What met them was a pair of very familiar hazel ones.

 Garak blinked, and took a shallow breath. At the lack of painful resistance, he took another, deeper this time. Julian’s face backed away slightly with a smile. “It’s good to see you awake. You were… in quite the trouble.”

 The corners of Garak’s mouth lifted into what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Good to… be alive.” He took a few more breaths as his memory came back. He suddenly tried to push himself up. “Molly!”

 Julian’s hand on the uninjured shoulder was enough to keep the weak Cardassian down. “She’s fine. Fractured fibula and some bruises is all. You protected her from the worse of it.”

 “Good…” Garak closed his eyes for a moment. “How long… since we were rescued?”

 “Nineteen hours. Don’t worry, you’ll make a full recovery.”

 Garak tried to lift his left arm, but only received a response of pain and clenched his teeth against it.

 “That’s going to take the longest. A lot of muscle and nerve damage was done.” Julian leaned over Garak to gently take the left hand. “Can you feel this?”

 Garak’s fingers twitched against Julian’s, and he nodded.

 “Good, very good…” Julian kissed his partner’s forehead before starting to more thoroughly check Garak over.

 “So, what… what happened?”

 “It was a station-wide attack. Explosives in the cargo and storage bays, attack on the computer systems… it’s all back up and functional now, although it took a more than a few hours. Right now, we suspect Klingons.”

 Garak slightly nodded in acknowledgment. “And me?”

 Julian put down his tricorder and sat on the edge of the bed. He took Garak’s right hand and lifted it to kiss the back of it. “In addition to the nasty shoulder wound, there was major concussion, six broken ribs, two of which punctured your organs and led to internal bleeding, and various cuts and bruises.”

 Garak brought Julian’s hand to his face and held the back to his cheek. “As you said, quite the trouble.”

 “We were fortunate to get to you when we did.” Julian bent over to press his forehead to the Cardassian’s.

 Garak moved his hand to softly caress the Human’s cheek, and Julian subtlety nuzzled against it. “I hope you’re not dwelling on ‘what-ifs,’” he whispered.

 “You did give me a fright for a good while.” Julian placed a soft kiss on the side of the other man’s mouth.

 They stayed like that for a couple minutes, Julian needing to feel that Garak was alive and on the mend, and Garak needing to feel Julian’s strength. They were quiet, the only sounds they made came from breathing.

 Then Julian pulled back and asked, “If you’re feeling up to it, would you like to see Molly?”

 “Oh… I wouldn’t want to bother her.”

 Julian smiled. “Believe me, you wouldn’t be. She refused to leave when Jadzia came by to take her.”

 “Hm… whatever would she refuse to leave for?”

 “You, Garak. She wants to see you. She’s been in my office, sleeping on the couch last I checked.”

 “Well, if it’s no bother to her,” Garak answered.

 Julian stood. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

 Garak steadied himself to see the girl. It was heartening to know she had survived with minimal injury. For a short grim moment, he considered what might have happened had he not recognized the explosive device and grabbed her in time.

 Then Julian came back in, and Garak put on the best smile he could manage at the sight of Molly in his arms and rubbing sleep from her eyes.

 “Garak, you’re awake!”

 “That I am, my dear.”

 Julian set her down on the edge of the bed, and stood near Garak’s head. Molly immediately half-hugged him, not touching his left side. “I knew Julian would take care of you.”

 “Yes… he’s quite good at that, isn’t he?” Garak brought his arm up to her back and held her close.

 “The best.”

 “Oh, now don’t feed his ego,” Garak teased.

 “Hey,” Julian chuckled. “If she wants to think I’m the best doctor, then let her. I might add an extra day to your stay if you keep that up.”

 “And just how long will I be stuck here?”

 “A few days, at least. There will be no discharging yourself or sneaking out. Not that you’ll be in any condition to anytime soon.”

 “I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Molly said, sitting up and looking down at the Cardassian.

 Garak glanced up to Julian, a mock-pout on his face. “How quickly she turns against me.” He blew out a long breath and turned back to Molly. With his warmest smile, he said, “Thank you for helping to keep me awake.”

 Molly gently smoothed down the black hair still the still hung over the side of Garak’s face. “It was scary… but you helped me not be so scared.”

 “Well, you’re a very brave girl. You helped me not be so frightened, too.”

 Molly looked up to Julian. “Can I stay?”

 At Garak’s small nod, Julian said, “Yes, but remember to be careful. He’s still fragile, even if he doesn’t admit it.”

 “I will.” Molly settled laying on her side against Garak’s, her head on his shoulder. “Is this okay?” she asked him.

 “Perfectly fine.” Garak’ tilted his head towards her.

 Julian leaned over to kiss Garak’s forehead and the top of Molly’s head. “Well, if you’ll both excuse me, I have a lot of paperwork to fill out over all this.” He ordered the lights dimmed to fifty percent before he left the room.

 Garak and Molly didn’t talk, just enjoyed the other’s quiet company in light of their survival. Eventually, her breathing slowed, and Garak knew she had fallen asleep. He tenderly slid his fingers through her long hair.

 A few minutes later, Julian silently came in and put a blanket over the girl. After a soft kiss from his partner, Garak closed his eyes as well.

 ********

 Garak and Molly were enjoying a meal together, bowls and cups placed on a small table at Garak’s bedside, a thick stew and tea for him and oatmeal and fruit juice for her.

 Garak looked to the doorway when he noticed Julian step in and waited a second before before waving for someone else to come in as well.

 “Molly?” Miles and Keiko said at the same time as they entered.

 Molly turned and instantly pushed herself off the bed. Garak steadied her cup as she lightly bumped the table in her haste.

 “Mommy! Daddy!” She practically jumped into her father’s arms.

 “How’s our girl? Not hurt?”

 Molly shook her head. “Julian took care of us.”

 Keiko kissed her daughter’s cheek. “It must’ve been scary, from what I heard.”

 “It was, but Garak protected me.”

 Keiko looked to the Cardassian with a grateful smile. Garak simply nodded in response. Keiko then turned to Julian. “Is she clear to come home?”

 Julian nodded. “I’ll be by later to bring her things from my quarters.”

 Molly wiggled down from Miles’ hold and went back to Garak. “I can come back to your shop, right? I want to finish our project.”

 “You are welcome any time. Julian will let you know when I’m up to working again so we can finish it.”

 “Project?” Miles asked.

 “They’re making some clothes together,” Julian quickly explained.

 Molly hugged Garak, and he returned the embraced one-armed. When they separated, she said sternly, “No leaving until Julian says you’re better.”

 Garak lightly laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He took a breath. “Now go along home.”

 Molly beamed, then went back to her parents. Keiko took her hand and led her out. Miles stayed behind, fixing a meaningful stare on the Cardassian. “Thank you, for protecting her.”

 “You have a delightful daughter. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her if I could help it.”

 “Right, well… I’ll see you later, Julian.”

 Once alone, Julian rolled the table away to sit on Garak’s bedside. He leaned over closely and teased, “You’ll be quite the hero to her for a while.”

 “How unfortunate,” Garak replied, his tone light as well. After a short kiss, he asked, “May I finish my lunch?”

 “Only if I’m allowed to join you.”

 “Well of course, my dear doctor. While you’re at it, bring me something to read?”

 Julian nodded and pushed the table close to Garak before heading out.

 Garak took a sip of his tea as he watched Julian go. Whatever the reason for the attack on station, the three of them had made it through well enough, and things would soon go back to normal.


End file.
